Before The Uprising
by EsW
Summary: A short one shot of Stephen and Celine in Idris before the Uprising


The sky was dark that night in Idris. The moon was nowhere to be seen and if Stephen Herondale looked closely enough he could only just make out a few stars, shining spots of light between the clouds. It was the kind of night which reminded him of Amatis. The night he had announced that they were to have a divorce had been exactly like this one.

Only this night was so much different.

Stephen smiled and raked a strong hand through his golden hair, feeling the light breeze from the open balcony doors twirling around his bare torso.

"Stephen?" Celine asked into the darkness of their bedroom. "What are you doing?"

Stephen turned to look at her, his smile remaining. "I was just thinking," he replied as he walked back over to their bed.

Every time he looked at his wife he was filled with the upmost happiness. Seeing the slight swell of her abdomen and the way her skin glowed with happiness was a dream come true to him. A baby which was half Celine was sure to be perfect and beautiful beyond measure. He pulled back the covers and slid in beside her, his arm snaking over her bump to hold her close against him. He inhaled deeply and closed his eyes, content.

"What were you thinking about?"

Stephen nuzzled his face into Celine's hair and kissed her head lovingly. "You," he murmured into her hair. "Our baby."

Celine immediately held Stephen closer and he could tell that she was smiling. "I've never seen you so excited."

Stephen laughed and propped himself up on one elbow so that he was gazing down at his wife, whose beauty, in his eyes, was superior to any other woman in the world. He brushed a few strands of her light brown hair away from her face and could hardly look away from her golden gaze. After all this time, the colour still mesmerised him. He hoped that the baby would have her eyes.

"Maybe it's because this is the best thing that has ever happened to me," Stephen suggested, leaning down to kiss his wife softly. Celine's hands trailed up his arms and gripped the back of his neck, his hair tickling her fingers as she pulled him closer.

She pushed him away for a moment to look into his eyes and Stephen felt his heart thumping in his chest. "What about Amatis?" Celine asked, slightly out of breath. "Did you ever plan anything like this with her? I know that you loved her."

Stephen sighed and his smile vanished. Just like always, any mention of Amatis made him feel incurably guilty. She had never handled their divorce with grace and it killed him to see the look on her face every time she saw him with Celine. On one hand, he thought that he shouldn't have listened to Valentine who had persuaded him to divorce Amatis. But on the other hand, being with Celine was like heaven.

"Yes," Stephen said quietly, not looking away from Celine's golden gaze for even a second. "I loved Amatis. And yes, we talked of having a family and growing old together. But when Valentine spoke to me about divorcing her and being with you...everything seemed to fall into place like it hadn't when I was with Amatis. Celine, I love _you_. I love you with everything I have; I love you with all of me. That will never change, I swear it."

Celine pursed her lips and stroked Stephen's face gently. "It scares me, Stephen," she admitted.

"What does?"

"The power that Valentine has over us. Look how easily he got you to divorce Amatis. Amatis and I were _friends_ before this. Before Valentine decided that we were better suited."

"Divorcing Amatis wasn't easy," Stephen said quietly. "It was one of the hardest things I've ever done."

"I know. But I can't help but be scared of Valentine. Sometimes he gets that look in his eyes and I just want to run away as fast as possible. When he heard of my pregnancy he gave me that look. I hate it, Stephen. I hate it."

Stephen sighed and held her hand against his face. "My love, you have nothing to be scared of. Valentine is a good man. I'm dear to him and so are you. He cares for us."

"No," Celine objected, quickly becoming frustrated. "He cares for _himself_, Stephen. Nobody else."

"And what about Jocelyn? He loves her. He loved Lucian as if he was his own brother before the accident."

"But was it an accident?" Celine asked. "Why don't you ever question him, Stephen?"

"It was an accident," Stephen said firmly. "I don't question him because The Circle is all we have! We need his protection!"

Celine stayed silent for a moment, gathering her thoughts. Stephen forced himself to calm down, he could never stay mad at her for longer than a minute anyway, but when she spoke like this, it was hard to make her see sense. Valentine assured him that it was the hormones from the pregnancy and Stephen tried his hardest to believe that.

"I know. I'm sorry. Sometimes I just wish that we could run away together, somewhere far away from Idris. London, Paris, New York...anywhere. Somewhere we could raise our child together in peace."

"Sometimes I want that too," Stephen admitted. "But it's not possible."

Stephen leaned down to kiss her briefly on the lips, and then he shuffled down until his lips were pressed against her stomach through her nightgown. He smiled and looked up at Celine who smiled back at him, her hand on his head, running through his hair slowly.

"In the end, it doesn't matter where we raise our child." He kissed her stomach tenderly and closed his eyes. "He will be loved, no matter where we are."

"He?" Celine questioned, raising an eyebrow at her husband.

Stephen chuckled and nodded. "It's a boy. I just know it."

Celine sighed happily, the argument forgotten, and relaxed as Stephen's hand stroked her abdomen gently, his lips moving, whispering things she couldn't quite make out. She leaned back against her pillows and looked out at the moonless sky through the balcony doors, pondering a life without Valentine.

"You are so loved, little baby," Stephen whispered. "So loved. You have the best mother you could ever ask for. She's beautiful and smart and funny. And you have a father who loves you already with all of his heart. You'll see, soon enough. We can't wait to meet you, baby Herondale."

Stephen rested his head beside Celine, his hands still working in gentle circles across her abdomen. He glanced up to see that Celine was already fast asleep, her eyelids flickering with the promise of dreams. He smiled and kissed her stomach once more before closing his eyes and following her right into a dream world which belonged to them entirely.


End file.
